In the very beginning of April, Ukraine attacked several targets in Tatarstan Republic of the Russian Federation. Drone attacks in Russia are nothing new at this point, but this one was different – targets were around 1,200 km from Ukraine. Where did Ukraine get such long-distance drones?
Ukraine’s long-range drones. Image credit: Дмитро Шимкін з двома E-300 via Wikimedia
On 2nd of April 2024 the city of Yelabuga in Tatarstan was attacked by Ukrainian drones for the first time. Ukraine said that it targeted the Shahed-146 manufacturing plant as well as a local oil refinery.
The Russian oil industry is constantly being attacked by Ukrainian drones at this point in the war. Ukraine is obviously trying to hurt one of Russia’s main ways to keep its economy afloat and to reduce the production of fuel that is needed for military equipment. On top of that, by attacking various targets in Russia the defenders of Ukraine are forcing Russia to direct some of its air defence capabilities to protect strategic assets in its own territory, which should open up some opportunities in Ukraine.
🔥🤩 For the first time, UAVs attacked Tatarstan, the city of Yelabuga is 1200 km from the border with Ukraine pic.twitter.com/0oamUHJNaO
— MAKS 23 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) April 2, 2024
But where did Ukraine get its long-distance drones? People who watched the videos about the attacks in Tatarstan noted that these drones look a lot like Cessna planes. And that assessment is not wrong – Ukraine managed to transform some light civilian planes into long-range kamikaze drones.
Ukraine wants to attack the Russian oil industry, but not all of these targets are in the regions that border Ukraine. This means that Ukraine needs long-range drones. Small drones can have a range of up to 1.000 km. Meanwhile, small planes can fly much further. If you get rid of the seats, communication equipment, doors, windows and other bits that are needed for human pilots, you free up some weight to fit larger fuel tanks. It is believed that Ukraine’s new drones have a range of 2,000-3,000 km. Bild was one of the outlets to confirm that. Sources say that these drones carry an explosive charge of 300 kg.
How were these planes transformed? Well, some kind of remote control system was installed. It could have been some robotic setup to run the usual flight controls or something more integrated directly with the control surfaces. These drones also must use satellite navigation and may even have cameras to recognize targets. Interestingly, recently there were reports that Ukrainian drones have some sort of AI system to aid with navigation and target recognition.
Also, while transforming light planes into drones is definitely doable and relatively cost-effective, Ukraine is also making brand new long-range kamikaze-style drones. They will have the advantage of being made from the ground up for this purpose.
Targets? Oleksandr Musienko, head of the Military Law Research Center of Ukraine, noted that Ukrainian drones primarily look for 5 kinds targets in Russia:
- military airfields;
- arms industry facilities;
- storage facilities for military equipment, weapons and ammunition;
- armament logistics points;
- oil refineries.
And these attacks are likely to continue indefinitely. Some reports say that Russia already lost (although temporarily), 10-15 % of its fuel production capabilities.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: MAKS 23 Twitter, CNN